About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Fèis Ìle Laphroaig Open day – Tasting the Càirdeas 2014

Laphroaig is one of the most popular distilleries on Islay, and the Càirdeas releases have an almost religious following among aficionados. Officially, this is a Friends of Laphroaig release which to the best information I have is an 8 year old, having spent seven years in ex bourbon casks and was finished for one year in Amontillado sherry casks. Amontillado is a dryer style of sherry compared to Oloroso.

Interestingly, when you look at the numbers of bottles produced by each distillery for their Fèis Ìle release, you realize that this isn’t a novelty release for the festival, rather a major worldwide release who’s release date correlates with the Islay Festival.

Nose: Medicinal peat, banana, fruit soup, warm spices, pound cake with powdered sugar with a layer of tartness pronounced by sour fruit and berries. The nose alternates between the sweet and the tart in a most tantalizing way. Water strengthens the warm spice and releases a floral note.

Palate: 100% Laphroaig with a layer of sweetness from the sherry with an addition of spice. Sour yellow plums are evident, again with a sweet and sour interplay.

Linger: Peat, sweetness on the tongue, coffee grinds and a tingle on the sides of the tongue. This is a linger you’ll take with you for a very long time, as it just stays around almost forever.

Conclusion

Fresh and good, with an abundance of fruit. It works, even if it isn’t the best Càirdeas I’ve ever had…

One comment on “Fèis Ìle Laphroaig Open day – Tasting the Càirdeas 2014”

Laphroaig 15 for $40?! That’s a fantastic deal seomhow I’m having trouble feeling too sorry for you! Agreed on Ardbeg the 10 year is fantastic, and even more aggressively peaty than Laphroaig 10 (it’s up to you to decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing). Caol Ila and Bowmore are also both good I think that the Caol Ila might be closer to what you’re looking for.